Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~ 3692~
~I~LE 0~ ~HE INVEN~ION
DEVICE ~OR ~H~ MEASUREME~ OF ~H~ WALL ~HICKNESS
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BACKGROUND OF ~HE :[NVE~TION
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~he present invention relates to apparatus for the
measurement of the wall thickness of tubes, having measuring
bodies which bear resiliently against the inner wall surface
of the tu~e and which react upon a measuring device arranged
externally o~ the tube wall. Such measuring devices are
used in particular for the testing of the wall thickness
of synthetic tubes immediately after the issue of these
tubes from the nozzle of an extruder. It has been shown
that during this use of the measuring device a stable support
of the measuring body and an efficient protection o~ the
same ~rom damage is indispensable, sinse especially at the :~
beginning o~ production substantial irregularlties often
occur on the i~ner wall ~urface of the tube, which can
damage the measuring body bearin~ agaiDst the wall of the ~ :
: tube, or its support.
~rr~ or 5~ r~V~rlO~
It is the obae¢t of the presen~ invention to provide
a de~ice for the measurement o~ the wall thickness o~ tubes
which comprises measuring bodies which bear resilientl~ and
so~tly against the inner wall surface o~ the tube, and in :
25 ~ which nevertheless the:support o~ the measuring bodies is ~ -
especiall~ stable and whi¢h additionall~ permits measure-
~:; ments within a greater range of diameters. ~-
he device aocording to the:invention is characterised
in that~each measuring body is~supported upon a common support
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b~ means:of parallelogram arms, at least one of the parallel-
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ogram arms being supported with free play, and that spreadi.ng
spring forces act upon the measuring body. The support of the
measuring body by means of parallelogram arms proves to be suff-
iciently robust, and yet is, owing to the arrangemen-t of at least
one of the parallelogram arms su~ficiently flexible to guarantee
a constant full contact of the measuring body against the inner
wall of the tube.
In accordance with a further embodiment, a device for
measuring the wall thickness of tubes includes a common support
member defining an axis ~or insertion within the tube, a plurality
of parallelogram linkage means connected between said support
member and a corresponding plurality oE elongated measuring bod-
ies, said linkage means being arranged around said support for
supporting said measuring bodies generally parallel to said axis
and permitting movement thereof generally radially with respect to
said support member axis, at least one parallelogram arm connect- :
ed in each said linkage means with free play such that the resp-
ective measuring body is allowed a degree of angular movement
relatively to said support member axis, and means for resiliently
urging said measuring bodies radially outwardly into contact with
the inner surface of a tube wall.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~IE DRA~NGS
The invention will be better understood by an examin-
ation of the following description together with the accompanying
drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a device
according to the invention,
Figure 2 is a cross-section through the device shown in
Figure 1, and
Figure 3 illustrates a modified embodiment.
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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMæN'r
In the tube 1 to be tested, for example a synthetic tube
issuing from an extruder, is arranged the part of the measuring
device embodying the invention. It comprises a cylindrical man-
drel 2, with which end rings 3 and 4 are connected. The ring 3
serves for the attachment of a tension element which can be att-
ached on the mandrel of the extruder nozzle and thereby serve ~or
the anchoring of the illustrated part in the moving tube~ On
the ring 4 can be connected further means to be located in the
inside of the tube, for example a closure member for the prod-
uction of an excess pressure.
On the mandrel 2 is located a tubular support 5, which
is provided with two rings of eyes 6, each of which has a slot
7 in which engages a forward parallelogram arm 8 or a rearward
parallelogram arm 9, the parallelogram arms each being pivotably
connected by means of a pin 10. The outer ends of the parallel-
ogram arm~ 8 and 9, which are bent out-
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wardly at right angles, engage in slots 11 of rod shaped
cylindrical measuring bodies 129 which con~ist of an electri-
cally conductive material or are coated with such a material~
~he parallelogram arms 8 and 9 are pivotably supported in
these slots 11 by means of pins 13. While the rear parallel-
ogram arms are supported inwardly and outwardly on the pin~
10 and 1~ substantially without play, the forward parallelogram
arms 8 are connected with play, as shown in ~igure 1. ~he
measuring bodies 12 are consequently not held ri~idly parallel
to the support 5, but can take up a slightly inclined posi-
tion and thus constantly apply themselves fully against the
inner wall of the tube 1.
At the inner slde of the rear end of the measuring body
12 are located screws 14 on which engage chains 15. Tension
springs 16 act upon the chains 15, each tension ~pring being -;
arranged between adjacent measuring bodies 127 and the springs
being anchored to a disc 17 which is located upon a ~houlder
of the support 5.
~he forward ends 12a of the measuring bodies 12 are
bent inwardly, and are located in the region of a frusto- ;
conical stop surface 18 of a respective annular stop member
19. Between the stop member 19 and a clamplng cone 20 is
a disc 21 formea out of soft synthetic material or rubber,
of which the diameter corresponds to the internal diameter
: 25 of the tube. At the rear end of the support 5 a correspond-
ing disc of soft synthetic material or rubber is located
by means oP c:Lamping disc~ 21 and 23~
Outside of the tube 1 in the region of the measuring ~-
bodies 12 there is arranged a measuring head, not shown, of
which a meas~-ing sensor is applied to the outer side of the
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~L~69~34
tube 1 or is located at a defined distance from the outer
surface of the tube 10 ~he measuring bodies 12 cooperate
with the measuring sensor in known manne~ and the corres-
pondingly determinable distance between the measuring bodies
12 and the measuring sensor enables the local thickness of
the tube wall to be determined.
In operation the tube 1 travels in the direction of
the arrow from left to right in ~igure 1~ and the measuring
bodies 12 spread outwardly under the tension of the spring~
16 and conform satisfactoril~ to the inner surface o~ the
tube 1. Since the line o~ action of the spring forces passes
inside the pivotal axes 13 of the measuring bodies, the spring
forces tend to pivot the measuring bodies 12 outwardly about
the rear pivotal axes 13, so that the mea~uring bodies always
conform satisfactorily overall. In particular the forward
; ends of the measuring bodies are pressed outwards, and the
arrangement of the forward parallelogram arms 8 with play
also permits a slight inclination of the individual measuring
bodies 12 relatively to the support 5. ~he inwardly inclined
end 12a of the measuring bodies ensure an inward shifting
of the measuring bodies, when, in particular at the beginning
of production, pronounced irregularities of the tube wall
travel past. Such irregularities can also travel past the
stop means 19 without difficulty, since the latter is~ because
~ 25 of the inwardly bent forward ends 12a of the measuring bodies,
! enabled to ha~e an external diameter substantiall~ smaller
than the i~n~r diameter of the tube or the diameter taken up
b~ the measuring bodies 12 in their working positions.
When the illustrated part of the measuring devi¢es
leaves the ~Ibe 1, the measuring bodies 12 are spread out-
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wardly until their forward ends 12a bear a~ainst th~ s-to~ sur-
face 18. The forward ends of the measuring bodies therefore
rest protected within the ston member 19, and when the illustra-
ted part is again fed into a tube, the edges or irregularities
of the tube cannot catch the forward extremities of the measuring
bodies 12, but can only engage upon the inclined outer surface
of the inwardly bent ends 12a of the measuring bodies, and these
measuring bodies push inwardly without substantial effort.
The illustrated construction has the further advantage that
for the definition of the range of measurement onlv the stop
member 19 and the discs 21 need to be exchanged. This exchange
can be effected relativelY easily after removal of the rings 3, 4
and the spring rings securin~ the parts 20 and 23. In an alternative
embodiment, it would also be possible to construct the exchangeable
parts, in particular the stop member 19, in several separable
parts, so that the~ can be removed laterall~ from the supoort 5
and the mandrel 2 respectively without the need for disassembl~v
of the parts located axiallv in front of them.
In a further variant of the present invention, illustrated
by Fig. 3, the parallelogram arms 8 and 9 are replaced by leaf
springs 8' and 9', of which the inner end is firmlv connected to
- the support 5, whereas the outer ends are connected to the mea-
;~ suring body 12' by means of blocks 30 whlch are pivotlY coupled
`~ with the measuring bodv by means of pins 31. The back block 30is coupled to the measuring bodv 12' with free play, which causes
its said mobility. In the place of the inwardlv bent ends 12a of
the measuring bodies, inwardly inclined leaf springs 32 are con-
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nected wLth the measuri~ bodies. Anv characteristics of both
variants of the present invention can be exchanged, i.e. for ex-
` iO ample the measuring bodies 12 of ~iqs. 1 and 2 could be suspended
` by means of leaf springs whereby the tension springs 16 fall away.
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